Up In the World
by KatBlue
Summary: AU.Tara is a wholesome girl from a small town called Sunnydale and when she decides to move to the big city, she had to start at the bottom of the food chain waitressing. There she meets the son of a Hollywood producer that can make her a star. Chapter 3.
1. Chapter 1

Up in the World.

Tara is a wholesome girl from a small town called Sunnydale and when she decides to move to the big city, she had to start at the bottom of the food chain; waitressing. There she meets the son of a Hollywood producer that can make her a star.

Tara had only one goal in life, which was to be an actress. The only way she was going to be able to succeed this is to head to LA and find an agent. She will miss her friends, but the trip to LA will be worth it. Once she becomes a movie star, her life is complete.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to miss you," says Joyce, her mother, as she hugs her tight. "Do you have everything?"

"Yes, I have all I need," replies Tara. "Dawn, take care of mom, okay?"

"I will," replies Dawn, Tara's cute little sister.

"Okay, I'm set."

"Promise me you'll call the minute you get there and…" says Joyce.

"Mom, I've got it. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine."

Tara gets into her car and drives off. Her mother and sister wave as she drives down the street. Dawn then looks at her mom.

"So, can I have her room?" asks Dawn. Joyce looks at her youngest and shakes her head.

Tara heads down the highway to meet up with a friend of hers, who has found her a nice apartment for a good amount. She grabs her phone and tries to call her friend, Buffy.

"Hello," says Buffy on the other line.

"Hey, Buffy, it's me Tara," says Tara. "I'm on the highway right now. I'll probably be there in about half an hour."

"That's great. I'm so glad you're coming. I wish that we could be roomies, but I'm all booked up at my place."

"It's okay. At least we're close by and can see each other."

"Yes, I'll meet you at your apartment and help you unpack.

"That will be great. I'll see you then."

Buffy has been Tara's best friend since kindergarten and she has always been the strong one. Always watching over her like a big sister. When she moved to the city, Tara was totally crushed. Buffy sent tons of letters telling Tara about her experiences and Tara loves every detail of them. She wanted to so much be part of that world and she continued her career by auditioning in all the plays she could get into at her school.

In less that she had expected, Tara was in the city and getting some pretty neat sites on her way to her apartment. She finally found the building and sees a BMW parked nearby it. When Tara gets out of the car and walks by the BMW, someone from inside the car rolls their window down.

"Tara?" says a girl with dark sunglasses inside the car.

"Buffy?" says Tara recognizing her green eyes as she lifts her sunglasses up. Buffy opens the door and steps out. She hugs her long time best friend. "Oh my gosh you look so different."

"You haven't changed."

"Well, you kind of can't living in a town like Sunnydale."

"I'm so happy you're here. Come on, let's go and see your apartment."

"Okay." The two enter the building and enter the elevator.

"Fourth floor."

"And you have a small balcony. It has a nice view."

"That's great." Buffy walks over to the door and opens it. The apartment has some strange color on the walls. Its best feature is that it's spacious, but other than that it's crap.

"It's a fixer upper and you might need to re-plaster the wall. Don't worry; I have someone who can do that."

"Thanks, I think."

"Well, let's go get your stuff." Buffy heads out of the apartment, while Tara just slumps and looks at her apartment. She sighs and follows Buffy out.

Once they got Tara's things inside, Buffy asks her to dinner. Tara accepted. She did not want to be alone in that apartment and eat food in it.

"This place is where the stars go to unwind from a hard day's work," says Buffy. "You'll get to meet my boyfriend."

"Oh, you have a boyfriend?" says Tara.

"We've been off and on." Tara looks at the menus and is shocked at the prices of the food.

"Are you kidding me?" Tara points at something on the menu and shows it to Buffy. "That's the price?"

"Yeah, but they serve a lot of food on that plate. Wanna get one together. I'm on a diet."

"Okay."

They are finished, and Buffy is concerned that her boyfriend has not shown yet. She looks around every two minutes, but nothing.

"This is so unlike him. He always comes to dinner."

"Well, maybe he forgot."

"He's never forgotten."

"What does he do?"

"He's in business with his dad. Going to run it when his dad retires and that will be soon."

"Why would you say that?"

"Cause he's getting married for the third time and he's going to take a long honeymoon."

"Oh."

"Well, I guess we should take you home."

"We can wait."

"I got an earlier job tomorrow. We'll talk after."

"Sure." Tara nods. Buffy calls for the waiter and asks for the check.

The BMW drives up to the building again and Tara slowly gets out. She turns to Buffy and smiles.

"I really tried to get you the best that I could, Tara. You gave me a price and stuck by it."

"I understand."

"If one of my roomies move out, you'll be the first to know, okay?"

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Tara heads into the building. As she opens the door again to her apartment, she drops down to the ground against the door. She grabs her cell phone from her purse and calls her mom.

"Hi, mom," says Tara trying to act cheerful.

"Sweetheart, I've been waiting all day for your call," says Joyce.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just went out with Buffy and didn't realize the time."

"Did you two have fun?"

"Oh yeah, tons."

"I'm glad. Well, good luck tomorrow and don't forget to tell me all about it."

"I sure will. Tell Dawn I love her."

"I will."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Tara hangs up and heads over to the supposed bedroom. That is where she notices a balcony window. She looks outside. Buffy was right, it is a nice view. The sun is setting and the skies are changing into different colors. It's a master piece design.

Tara hopes that tomorrow will bring some bright sides to this horrible apartment. She inflated her bed and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Up in the World. Chapter 2.

Glad you all liked it. I just like working with different characters being the lead roles. It's Tara's turn to shine in the spotlight.

Tara wakes up to a loud noise. It's something like glass breaking. She quickly gets off her inflatable bed and heads over to the window. The streets are filled with people all around. It was a city where people are bustling.

Tara heads over to the bathroom and sees that the tub had mold and roaches were coming from the drain. She quickly runs out of the bathroom and closes the door. Tara then goes to her bag, where she had her bathroom stuff and pulls it over to the kitchen sink. The kitchen looks decent and moderately clean. She gives herself a cat wash and puts lotion on all over.

"Just relax, Tara," says Tara to herself. "I can do this." She grabs a piece of paper and pen to write the things she'll need to handle this. She starts to brush her hair, when she hears someone knock at her door. "Who knows where I live?" Tara heads over to answer the door.

"Hi," says a tall guy wearing a tool belt and carrying a bunch of bags. "My name is Xander Harris." Tara looks at him strangely. "Buffy sent me. Carpenter."

"Oh, I didn't think you'd come so early. Sorry, please come in." Xander enters the apartment.

"Gosh, you have a horrible house keeper." Tara laughs at that. "Don't worry. When I'm through here, this place is going to look like…well, you're not going to recognize it."

"That's great. How much is…"

"No, this is a favor for Buffy. No charge."

"Oh, I can't accept that. There must be something I can do."

"Hmmm. Do you cook?"

"No, not really."

"Okay, why don't you head over to the grocery store down the street and get some stuff. Does your frig work?" Xander heads over to the frig in the kitchen. He opens it and sees that it needs a cleaning, but it feels pretty cool. "Get some ice and…" Xander grabs a pencil and paper from his pocket and starts to write her a list. He hands it over to Tara, who looks at it. Then he quickly pushes her to the door. Tara grabs her bag and heads out the door. "Oh, and I like regular coke, not diet." He closes the door on her and Tara is in shock. Tara looks at the list again and then heads out to her car and to the grocery store he had mentioned.

Tara goes down the aisles of the store and half the things on the list she never knew existed. She grabs everything she needs and gets the regular coke for him. For her, she grabs a diet vanilla coke. She pays for the stuff and heads to her car.

On her way to the parking lot, she sees a car driving really fast towards her. The driver seems to be arguing with someone on the phone and was not paying attention to where he was going. Tara pushes her cart with her groceries forward and backs out of the car's way. She falls backwards and onto the floor. The man in the car puts on his breaks and notices that he had almost hit a woman crossing the street.

"Oh my gosh," says the man. "Are you okay? I am so sorry." He helps her up.

"I'm alive," replies Tara.

"I was…there is no excuse, can I do something? I really feel bad about this."

"It's okay." Tara walks over to her cart, which by some lucky chance, is perfectly fine with all the groceries intact.

"Look, here's my number. Call me anytime. For anything you need, okay?" Tara looks at him strangely, but accepts his number.

"Thanks." Tara heads over to her car and puts the groceries inside. She then drives back to her apartment.

As Tara opens the apartment door, she hardly recognizes the place. It's actually pretty when it's clean. Xander walks up to her and helps her with the groceries.

"What?" asks Xander. "You like it the way it was before because I haven't gotten rid of the spider webs."

"No," says Tara as she puts some of the groceries on the kitchen counter. "I like it. You work fast. You must be highly recommended."

"That I am. Let's start some brunch. I'm hungry here." Tara smiles and starts looking around her apartment. She then sees the bathroom door open.

"Did you clean the bathroom?"

"Yeah, you look worried."

"No, it's just it wasn't a pretty sight."

"Right, I disinfected the tub and the rust actually came out. You were lucky."

"Oh."

"I know what you were worried about."

"What?"

"The roaches. Don't worry, I put them away in a jar for you, so you can keep them as pets."

"You what?"

"I'm kidding. You're just like Buffy. Terrified at creepy crawly things."

"They are not my friends, that's for sure. So, I brought this to keep them away." Tara pulls out a spray for roaches.

"You know, one time Buffy called me in the middle of the night. I was knocked out that night and she calls to tell me that there is something in her kitchen. She doesn't tell me what, so I get really worried and get my butt over there pronto. When I get there and turn on the kitchen light, I saw a roach. It was a little tiny one."

"Boy, weren't you pissed?"

"No. She let me sleep on her sofa. It's much more comfortable than my bed."

"Why didn't she call her boyfriend?"

"Oh, he's pretty far and he is smart enough to ask for what. She doesn't even bother. She takes advantage of me. Hey, do you have a skillet?"

"Yes, it's in one of these boxes. Help me look." Xander pulls out his little knife to open the boxes.

"Not that one." He opened a box with stuffed animals. "Cute." Tara laughs.

"Oh, I think this one is it." Xander opens the box.

"Great." He heads over to the kitchen and washes it.

"So, how did you and Buffy meet?"

"Oh, that is a long story."

"I have time." Tara sits down on the floor leaning against one of the walls.

"Okay. When she got here, she was living in a similar apartment like this one. I lived next door to her and when I went to welcome her, I decided to help her out."

"That was sweet of you."

"Yeah, after that we became the best of friends. Then she met Angel."

"Can you tell me about this Angel guy? I was supposed to meet him last night, but he didn't show."

"Oh, he's your typical tall dark and handsome kind of guy. Hey, if I were gay, I'd go out with him, but I'm not." Tara laughs. "He's actually really good for her."

"I'm happy for her. She's always talked about him. I hope I get to meet him soon."

"Here we are." Xander grabs two plastic plates and put a piece of omelet on it. He hands one to Tara, with a plastic fork. She tastes it.

"Hmmmm, this is wonderful." Xander gets himself a plate and puts his piece on it.

"Thanks."

Suddenly, Tara's cell phone rings. She rushes over to her purse to get it. Xander pours her some orange juice in a plastic cup and one for himself.

"Hello," says Tara as she answers the phone.

"Good morning," says Buffy on the other line. "How did you sleep?"

"Um, okay."

"Is Xander there?"

"Yes, he just made me breakfast."

"Oh, save me a piece of omelet. I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." Tara heads over to Xander and takes a sip of her juice. "It was Buffy. She wants a piece of omelet. Must be infamous."

"You bet," says Xander with a smile. They hear the door and Tara goes to get it.

"There she is."

"Boy, she's fast." Buffy enters the apartment.

"Wow, it looks pretty when it's clean," says Buffy.

"Here is your omelet," says Xander as he hands her a plate and fork.

"Oh, yes." Buffy starts to take a bite and savors it.

"I think she's having a food orgasm." Tara laughs at that as Buffy closes her eyes and starts to moan a little.

"It's just so good."

"Here," says Tara as she hands Buffy a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you. Xander, I'm going to have to steal her away from you for a couple of hours."

"That's okay, Buff," says Xander. "I know my way around this place. When you get back, you won't recognize it."

"That's great because it's going to look dazzling when we get some furniture," says Buffy as she takes Tara to the door.

"F…furniture?" says Tara. "I don't have enough to do that right now."

"You do need a bed."

"I'm pretty comfortable in my inflatable bed." Xander goes over to it and lays on it.

"Hey, it really is comfortable."

"We're shopping for a new bed," says Buffy. "Get your things and let's go."

"Alright, mom," says Tara as she grabs her purse and coat and then heads out the door. "Bye, Xander."

"Bye," says Xander as the door closes. He lies back down on the inflatable bed.

"So, what do you think about Xander?" asks Buffy to Tara as they head over to the elevator.

"Um, he's sweet," replies Tara.

"Do you find him attractive?"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"I know. He doesn't go out much and he needs to meet a nice girl like you. How about it?"

"I like him as a friend."

"And that could build up to more than friendship." They enter the elevator.

"Um, maybe not."

"Why not?"

"Well because he kind of likes you more." The elevator doors close.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Up in the World. Long one just because I took long to update.

When the girls arrive downstairs, Buffy is staring at Tara, who exits the elevator not noticing Buffy is still in the elevator.

"What are you talking about?" asks Buffy.

"It's pretty obvious," says Tara. They exit the building and head to Buffy's car.

"Not to me it isn't. I mean, did he tell you?"

"No, I just figured it out."

"How?"

"It's the way he talks about you and the roach incident." Tara smiles as she gets into Buffy's car.

"How dare he tell that story. I'm so going to kill him."

"It was funny."

"Yes, it was. Did he say anything else about me?"

"Oh, he said that one time you had to pick up men on the streets to have dinner." Buffy glares at her. "You seriously can't take a joke."

"That's what Xander says to me all the time."

"You need to lighten up. It's good to laugh once in a while."

"I know and Xander does that a lot. Making me laugh. Why didn't he tell me?"

"I guess he thought you were too glamorous to notice."

"I guess I've changed. I can't believe it. All this time. It has to be now when I'm actually in a good relationship." Buffy sighs as she gets into her car. "I had a thing for him earlier on, but I didn't think that he would actually date me. Not that I wasn't glamorous and beautiful as I am now, but I thought he didn't seem interested."

"Maybe he was nervous to ask you or tell you."

"Maybe. Well, let's forget about this. It's not something that's going to happen. I'm happy with Angel and Xander seems to like him."

"He told me that he's good for you."

"He did?"

"Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have brought this up."

"No, it's okay. Let's just get on with what we are doing."

"Right."

The girls park next to a local furniture store. They enter and head over to the bedroom displays. All the displays are beautiful, but pretty expensive.

"I think I'm going to cry," says Tara.

"No, Tara," says Buffy pulling her back. "They have a no payments for two years. I'm sure in two years you could come up with money to pay them."

"I guess."

"Come on." They keep shopping around and head to a different place. There they saw more beautiful furniture. Then Tara turns around and sees the most beautiful bed display in the world. Quilt and all.

"You like it?" Buffy walks over to the display that Tara is staring at.

"It's perfect."

"Colorful, too." Tara looks at the price.

"It's not bad of a price. They might want a deposit. How much do you think that they will ask?"

"Don't worry. I got that covered."

"No, I couldn't, Buffy."

"It's fine." Buffy calls up one of the people that work there. They arrange everything. Delivery was set for a lamp table, a whole bed set, and dresser with mirror. They then paid for the quilt and took it with them. "Let's look for some curtains." Tara tosses the quilt in the trunk of Buffy's car.

They find a nice place near Tara's apartment, where they have beautiful curtains. The designs have bold colors, but have uniqueness to them.

"I like these," says Tara as she touches the fabric.

"Me, too," says Buffy with a smile. "They would look great on the living room windows." Tara nods her head.

They are finally done shopping and head back to the apartment. Tara can't wait to see what Xander has done to her apartment. She won't believe that he has completely changed it, but she will have to see for herself.

The girls enter the elevator talking about other things that they could get for the apartment. They head out of the elevator and walk over to the door. Tara takes her keys out and opens her apartment door. When they enter the apartment, it is a different place. Tara is taken aback at the sight that she almost falls backwards.

"How do you like it?" asks Xander as he comes over to her. He takes her hand and leds her into the apartment.

"Oh my gosh," says Tara in shock at how different the apartment looks. "It's beautiful. I love you." Tara hugs Xander real tight. Buffy looks at them and enters the apartment, with the quilt and then closes the door.

"Xander, you've outdone yourself as always," says Buffy with a smile that got ignored.

"Thanks," says Xander. "Hey, nice quilt." Xander sees the quilt that Buffy has. "So, you got a bed?"

"Tomorrow," says Tara. "A whole set." Tara starts to walk around her apartment.

"Great. I'll come by early and help you put it up."

"You've helped so much." Tara turns to him.

"It's no problem. Besides, I need to paint these walls. What do you think about color?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey, um, we've got curtains for the windows," says Buffy.

"Oh, yes," says Tara as she grabs the bag that has the curtains and rods to hang them with.

"That is a nice color," says Xander. "We can put them now if you want? Just to see how they look."

"Sure," says Tara with a smile.

"Let me go get my ladder." Xander passes by Buffy and heads out the door. Buffy sighs and looks at Tara.

"Well, um," says Buffy as she scratches her head. "I'm just going to go. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?" Buffy heads out the door.

"Buffy, wait," Tara calls Buffy back. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing. I'm just tired. Goodnight." Buffy heads over to the elevator. The front door closes and Tara is alone again in the apartment. She wondered what was up with Buffy and wanted to call her, but Xander returnee to the apartment with the ladder. Tara decides that she would call her later if it is not too late.

"Where did Buffy go?" asks Xander as he prepares the ladder next to the window.

"She had to go," replies Tara as she puts her quilt next to her inflatable bed.

"Why?"

"She was tired. Guess she has some things to do tomorrow."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's just you and me." Xander grabs the tape measure to measure the wall for the curtains.

The curtains are set and they look divine. Xander tells Tara that he had a real nice color picked for the walls that would go real well with the curtains. Tara is happy to have so much help to make her place look more homey and welcoming. The two got some take-out at a nearby Chinese restaurant Xander knew about.

"Hmmm," says Tara taking a bite of her chicken broccoli. "This is great."

"Yeah, and it's actually easy to make," says Xander.

"You have been so much help, Xander." Tara smiles at him.

"I'm glad to do it for you."

Meanwhile, at Buffy's apartment, she enters her bedroom and tosses her purse on the bed. She heads over to the bathroom and then she hears the front door open.

"Honey, I'm home," says Angel. He heads over to the bedroom and tosses his coat on the bed. Angel heads over to the bathroom, where Buffy is and puts his arms around her waist from behind. "What have you been doing today?"

"Oh, just a little shopping with Tara," replies Buffy as she grabs her face cleanser.

"You still mad?"

"No." Buffy bends down to the sink to wash her face. She then grabs her toothpaste and toothbrush.

"You're ignoring me." Angel sighs and pulls away though, he was happy in the position he was a second ago. He leans on the doorway of the bathroom.

"I'm not ignoring…" Buffy stops because she has toothpaste foaming in her mouth. She spits it out in the sink and faces Angel. "I'm not ignoring you. I just thought that maybe, just maybe you would show more often to our dinner dates. Especially last night." Buffy continues to brush her teeth and then washes her mouth and wipes it clean with her towel.

Angel rolls his eyes as Buffy passes by him and throws the towel at his face. She then starts to undress throwing her stuff on the chair next to the closet.

"You could have called or maybe told your boss you're having dinner with your girlfriend. Was that so hard?"

"Buffy, I was at a very important meeting and calling me the next day while I was headed to work was not good. I think the people outside my car could hear you screaming."

"I don't care. Just for once think about how I feel."

"Buffy, I said I'm sorry. What else can I do? I'll make it up to you. Please don't be this way." Angel sees Buffy enter the closet in her pink bra and underwear. "Buffy."

Buffy comes out of the closet in a pink robe and gives him a pout. Angel nods his head and grabs hold of her around her waist. He looks down at her green eyes.

"Give me a second chance. Arrange the dinner again. I won't miss it. I promise."

"Okay. You know you can't always do this when you're in trouble. I'm not going to always fall for it."

"I know." Angel kisses Buffy on the lips, sucking her lower lip which she loved. "How about that shower?" Buffy gives him a smirk and she pulls him into the bathroom.

An hour and a half later, they are snuggled up in the bed. Angel is reading a book and Buffy is reading a magazine. They are both wearing glasses to read.

"Oh my gosh. Jessica Simpson is divorcing Nick Lachey. How sad."

"That was so overdue. Come on, she's not his type."

"I hope that never happens to us whenever we decide to get married." Buffy covers herself with the magazine from Angel's stare.

"Nah, I love you too much. I'll never leave you." Angel smiles at Buffy and gives her a kiss. "You know I kind of felt like today is a day of second chances. I almost ran over some girl at the supermarket. I would have never forgiven myself if I had hit her."

"My goodness. Is she alright? She must have had a scare."

"Yeah, I gave her my card. I really want to make it up to her. Hey, she was cute. Maybe you can hook her up with Xander. You're always hooking him up with girls."

"I'll have to meet her first."

"Sure thing." Angel puts his book away and turns off his lamp light. He then pulls the covers over him and moves closer to Buffy, who is still reading her magazine. Buffy starts to giggle.

"Angel." She puts her magazine down and turns off her light and then goes under the covers with him. "Oh, Angel."


End file.
